Gentleman's Understanding
by Afalstein
Summary: What was the origin of that history-wiping program? Lucius Fox receives a visit from an old friend in the survellience business, Harold Finch. Harold has an... unusual request.


**Gentleman's Understanding**

"Harold!" Lucius Fox came around his desk to shake the hand of the bespectacled man limping into his office. "I almost didn't believe it. How are you getting along?"

"Oh, you know…" Harold Wren (currently) smiled back at the businessman. "Just still hobbling along. Staying busy in my own way."

"Staying busy, eh?" Fox's eyes twinkled. "You take up that idea I suggested?"

"About taking on a partner? Yes, it was quite helpful, thank you." Finch smiled.

Fox helped the other man to a chair. "Well." He said, moving back to sit in his own. "What can I do for you today?"

"A bit of housekeeping. A small irregularity in my business holdings: I wondered if you might be able to help."

Lucius laughed, looking slightly rueful. "Harold, if you've been following Wayne Enterprises at all in the last couple years, you know our assets aren't what they used to be. Ever since that shelved fusion experiment…"

"Yes, yes." Harold waved down the other. "This isn't a strictly business call, Lucius. I wasn't exactly asking for… official help."

Something changed in Lucius' eyes and he leaned forward across the desk. "What sort of help were you thinking of, then?"

Harold drummed his fingers on the side of his suitcase for a few moments, before snapping it open and pulling out a file. "A certain European firm," he said, handing the file across to Lucius, "has stolen something from me… a program."

Lucius flipped through the file. "Well, Mr. Wren, I'm not up to date on how New York handles these things, but I was under the impression that'd be something for the police."

"The government has no jurisdiction over this firm. And, as you know, I prefer to avoid governmental attention."

Nodding, Lucius glanced up from the file. "And do you also want this particular 'program' to avoid government attention?"

The other man had the grace to look uncomfortable. "It's a little something I designed in the late stages of my work with the NSA... It essentially eliminates a person's known history, replacing it with an absolute blank. Credit history, fingerprints, medical records, even social security numbers." Harold toyed nervously with the edge of his suitcase. "And, though I hadn't considered it, it also eliminates any record of past crimes and deletes the person from watch lists of any kind."

"Including terrorist profilings?"

"Theoretically, yes." Harold nodded. "You see the danger."

"Mm." Lucius set the file down on his desk and frowned at it. "You write this little timebomb to hide from your Machine." He stated.

"More properly, to hide from the people running the Machine," clarified Finch. "I never expected anyone else to even understand what the program was for, after all, if you don't know about the Machine it makes no sense. It's possible the firm has no idea what they've stolen—the encryption is very… intricate." There was just a trace of smugness in the last word.

Nodding thoughtfully, Lucius glanced at the file again. "So you figure we have some time before they crack the code. Any reason you need my friend's help with this? What about that partner of yours?"

Harold shook his head. "He tends to be kept busy with the work I've found for him. Also his scope is limited, he does not possess the equipment that your… associate has."

"Well now, I suppose not." A small smile played around the corners of Fox's mouth. "Well, I guess Wayne Enterprises does owe you a favor…"

"We both benefited from the research involved in your cell phone scanner network," protested Harold, spreading his hands. "I'm simply asking for a hand here."

Lucius shrugged. "Not exactly that. We help you, we help ourselves." Picking up the file, he opened a drawer and stuck it in. "Not sure what I can promise, Harold… he's not as active as he used to be, but if anything can pull him out of retirement, this can."

"I appreciate it." Harold stood. "Please let me know if you need any help."

"Of course," smiled Lucius, standing also. "By the way, Reese from accounting wants to know how his brother is doing."

Harold smiled in turn. "Tell him John is quite well."

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, I know John has no family, least of all a whiny accountant who's stupid enough to try to blackmail Batman. But you can't expect me to pass up such a coincidence.

So I recently got interested in POI. Not entirely sure why. Guess I'm just a sucker for the lone hero premise. I's not terribly surprising that a show run by Jon Nolan should have so much in common with Chris Nolan's films, but at times the show feels like they just gave Batman guns and put Alfred (or Fox) in charge of the operation. And definitely "The Machine" has a lot in common with Batman's Cell Phone Scanner network from _Returns_. So I thought I'd just write a quick little one-shot showing a moment between the two brainiacs. I picture this conversation taking place between Returns and Rises, at some point during Season 1 of POI.

As always, reviews are appreciated.


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